NEW EQUIPMENT

CNC MULTISPINDLE 10-POSITION MACHINE

Tornos Technologies (www.tornos.com) has developed the MultiDECO 20/8d eight-spindle machine with two independent, 3-axis back working stations. "In essence, it's a ten-position machine", says Mark Saalmuller, Tornos' Marketing and Communications Manager.

In operation, positions 1 through 6 are used to perform operations on the front of the part. Every two indexes, two parts are cut off in positions 7 and 8. Those parts are then clutched by the two independent pick off spindles and presented to as many as five tools per part for a variety of back working operations. In theory, if the longest front work operation is 10 seconds and the back working position takes 20 seconds, the cycle time would still be only 10 seconds.

Spindle speeds on the eight independent motorized spindles range from 0 to 8,000 rpm. Unlike nonindependent spindles which have to operate at the same rpm, Tornos' eight independent spindles can all be run at different speeds at the same time allowing each spindle to be optimized for each operation.